11.01.12<\/p>\n
Istanbul<\/p>\n
Hatice Utkan<\/p>\n
What will happen to Taksim Square?<\/p>\n
Istanbul\u2019s current art scene enjoys analysing urban transformation trends. Since Turkey\u2019s $400 billion urban transformation project began on October 5 with the demolition of 3,900 buildings at 75 locations in 35 cities using explosives and bulldozers, the word \u201ctransformation\u201d has become a valuable concept for artists in Istanbul\u2019s contemporary art scene. Many art projects address this urban transformation, but among them only a select few are incisive.<\/p>\n
I\u015f\u0131l E\u011frikavuk\u2019s performance art project, which took place at Salt Beyo\u011flu on September 29, is an important critique of urban transformation. In her performance entitled \u201cChange Will Be Terrific!\u201d E\u011frikavuk staged an \u201cabsurd theatre-play\u201d with unique characters of her own creation.<\/p>\n
The story unfolds in an imaginary setting. E\u011frikavuk\u2019s performance focuses on three fictional characters: one is Amira Hussein, an Egyptian writer. Next comes Yasser Dellal, a restaurant owner in Istanbul\u2019s Bebek district and a translator of Hussein\u2019s works. The third guest is an architect named Pars P\u0131narc\u0131kl\u0131o\u011flu who proposes the 3P Project to transform Taksim Square.<\/p>\n
The characters participate in a mock talk show hosted by Sevim G\u00f6zay, a well-known Turkish TV presenter, who currently has a program titled \u201cArtist\u201d on one of the TV channels in Turkey, Skyturk.<\/p>\n
The work uses the language of popular media to operate like a real media spectacle, contemplating the ways in which the popular media filter current events for the public. Simultaneously, the performance concentrates on the process of urban change in the city and the cultural politics associated with this change, using the iconic Istanbul locale of Taksim Square as a metaphor.<\/p>\n
The character Amira Hussein, a famous Egyptian writer, is the author of a love story set in Cairo\u2019s Tahrir Square. \u201cI included Tahrir Square in order to compare it with Taksim Square,\u201d said E\u011frikavuk. During the performance, E\u011frikavuk\u2019s character Hussein says, \u201cIn my novel Tahrir is a character, which changes all the time. One day it is full of pain, the next it is full of festivity.\u201d<\/p>\n
By including Tahrir Square in Amira Hussein\u2019s book, E\u011frikavuk also highlights the current events taking place there in real life. Her emphasis on worldwide current events and the importance of the global agenda, such as the Arab Spring, are the result of E\u011frikavuk\u2019s \u201cjournalistic\u201d career, in which she is also an editor at an English newspaper. \u201cSince the performance project is an absurd theatre-play, I am trying to focus on the problems that are currently on the agenda both of the world and of Turkey; rather than attempting to reproduce the events as they occurred, I turn them into absurd stories in order to reveal the reality in them.\u201d<\/p>\n
The second guest of the mock talk show is Yasser Dellal, Hussein\u2019s translator. \u201cI currently own a Middle Eastern restaurant in Bebek,\u201d he says during the talk show, adding that he is from Syria. When the host asks about the happenings in Syria, he refuses to give details and says this is a painful topic to talk about.<\/p>\n
via Mashallah News \u2192 What will happen to Taksim Square?.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
11.01.12 Istanbul Hatice Utkan What will happen to Taksim Square? Istanbul\u2019s current art scene enjoys analysing urban transformation trends. Since Turkey\u2019s $400 billion urban transformation project began on October 5 with the demolition of 3,900 buildings at 75 locations in 35 cities using explosives and bulldozers, the word \u201ctransformation\u201d has become a valuable concept for […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":83,"featured_media":46001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2939],"tags":[6138],"class_list":["post-58626","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cultureart","tag-taksim-square"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58626","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/83"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58626"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58626\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/46001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58626"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58626"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.turkishnews.com\/en\/content\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58626"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}